


There's A Fine Line Between Coincidence and Fate

by Writings_by_Lexi



Category: The Mummy (1999)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-18 22:36:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29865102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writings_by_Lexi/pseuds/Writings_by_Lexi
Summary: Leaving home had been easy. Finding herself in the deserts of Egypt, not so much. Follow Margaret Henderson as she tries to help save her brother, and the world, when they find more than treasure in the ruins of Hamunaptra. Rated T for now, that might change.
Relationships: Ardeth Bay/Original Female Character(s), Evy Carnahan O'Connell/Rick O'Connell
Comments: 4
Kudos: 5





	1. At the Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! Thank you for checking out this story. This is the first one I ever written that I'm uploading so I welcome any constructive criticism. 
> 
> Disclaimer** I don't own the Mummy or any recognizable dialogue, just my OC.

What was I doing? My mom asked me the same question when I told her I would be accompanying my brother on his latest expedition. This was what I had trained for though, I went to school for this. Egyptology had long been a fascination of mine. When I learned that my brother, along with one of my friends from school, Bernard Burns, as well as a childhood friend of my brother's, were planning an expedition to a supposed lost city in the middle of the desert in Egypt, I couldn't refuse. Mom didn’t understand. She couldn’t for the life of her figure out why I would want adventure in far off lands instead of staying home, getting married and popping out a few kids. Of course, that’s what she did and where she excelled and my sisters would be sure to follow in her footsteps, but I wanted more. I needed more. 

And that was how I found myself on a steamboat heading down the Nile with my brother (mom’s only stipulation to me going), Burns, Daniels, another Egyptologist by the name of Dr. Chamberlain (I thought it was unnecessary to have another Egyptologist, but Daniels didn’t seem to share my opinions), and our guide. I didn’t like the look of him, the guide. He was kinda weaselly, always looking around like he was gonna get caught doing something he shouldn’t.  
I settled into my stateroom, one that I would be sharing with my brother. There was a separate bedroom, which he insisted I have, and after the long journey from Texas to get here, I wasn’t going to complain. I set my bags down and decided to use the bowl of water to freshen up. I didn’t recognize the girl in the mirror anymore. She looked jaded. I guess living in a man’s world would do that to you. Dr. Chamberlain certainly took any opportunity he could to draw attention to my gender and how naïve that must make me in the ways of the world. True, I hadn’t seen much outside of our homestead in western Texas but living out there, away from civilization, had shaped me too. The hardships that go with ranch living wasn’t something these prissy city boys could understand. 

After drying off my face and changing into a fresh top, I made my way into the dining hall of the boat. Not surprisingly, my brother was already there with the rest of his fearsome threesome, all nursing what was probably going to be the first of many glasses of bourbon. Something to know about my brother, Jack Henderson, was that he has been a thorn in my side since the day we were born. He’s my twin, older than me by just 5 minutes but the way he used those five minutes against me for most of our childhood, you would think he was my grandfather. My name’s Margaret, Peggy by those closest to me. I had the same sandy blonde hair that my brother had but, according to mama, I had the greyest eyes she had ever seen. While my brother’s eyes were blue like the Texas sky on a summer day, mine were often compared to the color the sky gets when a thunderstorm is rolling in across the empty Texas landscape. 

Nodding me over to join them, Jack made sure that I had a shot as well. “Did you hear that there’s another group onboard searching for Hamunaptra?” he asked us. 

Daniels seemed bothered by this. “Well, that’s just great. Now we have competition for the treasure.” 

By this point, I had enough of Daniel’s attitude, which always seemed directed at me. “Treasure isn’t everything. Some things, like preserving cultures and learning from the civilizations of the past.” I said with a roll of my eyes. All the guys laughed at this, even Jack. I honestly wasn’t surprised. This was nothing more than an adventure to them, like following a pirate’s treasure map when you were a kid. They didn’t think about the countries that deserved these finds, or the bodies of those who had lived there that didn’t deserve to have heavy footed Americans running over them in some grand expedition to make a fortune. “If that’s all you have to say for yourselves, I’m going to leave you boys alone with your booze and your game. Goodnight.” 

I turned on my heel and walked out of the dining hall. I heard a chair scrape across the floor, and I wasn’t even two steps out of the room before Jack caught up with me. “Whatever you’re going to say to defend your boys, I’m not interested.” I said, giving him a look that he had seen enough during our childhood, one that meant if he pushed me, he wasn’t going to like the outcome. 

“Don’t mind them. They’re just not used to an outspoken woman like you. Please come back. I won’t let them say anything else.” he pleaded, giving me those puppy dog eyes that could get me to agree to just about anything as kids, no matter how angry mama would get afterward. This is the side of him that I wish he would show more often. Jack had a big heart. He just didn’t like to show it. Hell, I was probably the only person who had seen just the lengths he would go to show you how much he cared. 

“Not tonight, Jack. I just want to go back to our cabin and get some rest. God knows when the next time we’ll get that is.” He couldn’t fault me that logic, so he nodded his head and turned to go back into the dining cabin. I waited until he was back inside before turning and walking back to my cabin. Once there I grabbed a book on ancient Egypt mythology, one that I had read probably a dozen times already and went to find some quiet corner of the boat to read. Sleep wasn’t something that would be happening anytime soon, I just couldn’t get my mind to shut up. There was a sense of foreboding about that I couldn’t quite get comfortable enough in my book to let go of. 

By this point the sun had set and the lanterns were lit, bathing the boat in a warm glow and many shadows. As I rounded a corner to finally head back to my room and call it a night, I was met with the business end of a sword. Cursing myself for not staying vigilant, I grabbed the dagger that I had kept in my boot, a going away gift from my dad. This seemed to genuinely shock my attacker, or I guess it did. He (I assume he was he) was dressed in all black and had a turban covering his head and most of his face. All I could see were his eyes. 

Never being one to back down from a challenge, and with 5 older brothers can you blame me, I lunged at him first, attempting to cut him on the hand to disarm him. But before I could make contact, he blocked it. I had barely moved, and he had blocked it. Ok so he must have been trained. Not surprising if your weapon of choice is a sword when guns were so much more popular. We continued this little dance of ours, moving towards the end of the ship where the horses my party had acquired were being held. I looked over and saw that the hay that had been given to them was on fire. My opponent must have noticed this too because he paused. Yelling in Arabic for his people to fall out and leave, he took one last look at me, nodded his head in my direction, and then jumped overboard. 

I stood there, stock still for a moment replaying these events over in my head. He had had the opportunity to kill me while I was distracted and chose not to. That was odd. Shaking my head to clear it from the memories and the smoke, I grabbed my horse and coaxed her into jumping off the ship into the river below. Once they were safely off the ship, I dived in after her, grabbing her lead. Using the calmest voice I could manage, I said to them, “Come on, we need you. You don’t want to die out here in the river, do you?” This seemed to do the trick because she quieted down and started following me to the side of the river. I couldn’t see my brother, but I did notice four other people standing there, soaked as well from their late-night swim. “Hi, I’m Margaret. I was with the other group, but I seem to have been separated from them. Would you mind if I joined you?” 

The big guy that seemed to be the leader of their group looked me over for a second, probably wandering if I could be trusted. With a look at the woman beside him, who nodded, he turned back to me and said, “I guess. My name is Rick. This is Evelyn and Jonathan Carnahan, and that smelly guy over there is the warden from the prison in Cairo.” I was a little shocked by that but decided to not make a comment on it. No reason to cause tension. 

“What are we going to do? We’ve lost all of our things, the supplies, my clothes.” the woman, Evelyn, said in a panic. 

“There’s a village about half a day’s walk from here. We’ll stop there for supplies and clothes before we head out into the desert.” Rick said with an authority that nobody was going to argue with. And that is how my journey got started. I was on my way to Hamunaptra.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it for the first chapter. I'm going to try my best to update this every Friday.


	2. A Handsome Stranger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer** Unfortunately I do not own The Mummy. Or any recognizable dialogue.

The trek to the village took most of the night. Luckily my horse was up for the task because I was just too damn exhausted from my fight with that man on the boat. By morning we were there. The women took one look at the state of me, Evy and our nightgowns and quickly ushered us over to a tent, insisting we needed new clothes. Evy looked excited at the prospect of new clothing. I, however, was much more skeptical. I hardly ever wore anything brand new. Growing up on the frontier meant that momma made our clothes. I think in my whole life I only had one dress that was bought at a store and that was the dress that they baptized me in as an infant. 

They put Evy in a black dress made out of some sheer fabric with high boots and a face covering made of the same fabric as the dress. Around the part that covered her nose was a gold trim and hanging down from that was gold beading. She looked like a princess. The ladies took one look at my eyes and immediately pulled out a midnight blue version of what Evy had on. “This will go perfectly with your eyes,” they told me. After pulling down over my head and gently placing the face covering over my head, they stood back admiring their work. One of them gave me a comb in an attempt to get my unruly curls in check. It worked well enough that when they showed us a mirror, I didn’t recognize myself. 

“Margaret, you look beautiful!” Evy exclaimed. 

“Not as beautiful as you do Evy.” And I meant that honestly. No man would dare look in my direction with Evy in the same room. I still couldn’t help feeling like a princess though. I had never owned something so fancy and exotic. The cut was a little lower than I was used to but if Evy was comfortable in it, I could learn to be too. I thanked the ladies who had helped us with a shy smile. Stepping out into the sun, the ladies of the village escorted us back to Jonathan, whom I had learned during the journey here was Evy’s older brother, and Rick. 

The way Rick looked at Evy when we walked up confirmed to me that no one would notice me while she was around, which was ok. Back home, my younger sister, who was only 2 years younger than me, was much more attractive than me, constantly being asked to accompany young men on a walk after church on Sunday. Compared to her, and Evy, I was plain looking. Momma always would tell me that my eyes were the only striking thing about me and hopefully whoever ended up with me would be so wrapped up in them that they could forgive my smart mouth. Thinking about Momma got me thinking of Jack. I hoped that he had made it off the boat. As his twin, I hoped that if anything had happened to him that I would feel it somehow. But the desert was a cruel, unforgiving place and I couldn’t bring myself to get my hopes up. 

In our absence Jonathan had been able to acquire camels for the others. I walked over to one of the food merchants. “Do you have any apples?” I inquired.

“It’ll be 3 pounds for a dozen.” He told me. I wasn’t going to barter for a lower price. Out here in the almost middle of nowhere I had no idea what business was like for him. Placing the apples in the saddle bag and mounting up we all set out, Rick in the lead with Evy next to him, Jonathan and I in the middle, and our smelly warden bringing up the rear. Kind of fitting if you ask me, since he definitely smelt like one. 

We continued on this path for the next two days, only stopping briefly at dusk to eat and sleep for a few hours. Rick and I took turns keeping watch. I wasn’t sure what he thought would find us, but his weariness was rubbing off on me. Back home, ruffians and coyotes were enough to make you want to keep watch over everyone on cattle rides but out here, with a whole lot of nothing in every direction, I didn’t know what Rick had so tightly wound. After the sun had gone down on the second day, most of our party was asleep. Jonathan had managed to find his way to the back of the pack with the warden. Evy was asleep, slumping against Rick who kept gently pushing her upright to keep her from falling. I couldn’t help but giggle when her camel started mouthing off while Rick attempted to keep it quiet so it wouldn’t wake her. My giggle was cut short by the sound of neighing in the distance. 

Rick looked back at me, alarmed. I shook my head, letting him know that it wasn’t my horse that made that noise. Looking around, we both noticed a group of ten figures on top of one of the many plateaus overlooking the valley we were going through. “Do you think they’re the same ones that we fought on the boat?” I asked Rick, worried that we would have to deal with them again so soon. 

“It wouldn’t surprise me. But I don’t think we need to worry about them right now. If they wanted to engage now, they would already be on us.” There was a familiarity in Rick’s eyes when he looked up at them that worried me. Where had he seen these guys before? I didn’t want to push him for answers, especially not with most of our traveling party asleep so I decided to let it go for now, putting it in the back of my mind for later research. I turned back around and just as quickly as they had appeared, they were gone. 

Morning dawned bright and early in the desert. As much as I loved Texas with its wide-open skies, nothing could beat this sunrise. There were more colors in the sky than in any painting I had ever seen. Off in the distance I could see a group of riders heading our way. I got nervous, placing my hand on the pistol at my side just in case it was the men who attacked the boat. As they got closer, I could hear someone calling out orders. It sounded like… “Jack?!” I yelled frantically. 

“Peggy?” I heard Jack yell back. Urging my horse into a gallop, I crossed the desert and quickly dismounted. Jack was there and pulled me into a hug, sighing in relief. “I thought you were dead.”

“I thought you were dead. I couldn’t find you in the aftermath of the attack. I guess I ended up on the wrong side of the river.” By this point both parties had caught up with us. Bernard looked relieved to see me. I gave him a small smile in greeting. Daniels also looked happy to see me which made me wonder just how badly Jack laid into him in the days since we were separated. 

Turning to face Rick, Jack nodded his head in thanks. “Hey O’Connell, don’t forget our bet. First one to Hamunaptra gets five hundred dollars, cash.” Daniels yelled over to him. “One hundred of that is yours if you help us get there first.” He said that part to Beni, their guide. 

Looking over at Rick, I could see that his attention was to the horizon line. “What’s going on?” I whispered to him.

“We’re about to be shown the way.” As the sun started rising higher a mirage-like effect came over the horizon, revealing an ancient city.

“Will you look at that?” Jack said in awe.

“Can you believe it?” This came from Daniels.

“Hamunaptra.” Bernard exclaimed, not that any of us needed that clarification. 

“Here we go again.” Poor Rick. He didn’t sound pleased at all to be back here. With that, we all took off. I was a good rider. I was on a horse before I even learned how to walk. But nothing could prepare me for breakneck racing through the desert. It didn’t feel right underneath my horse. Like at any moment her legs would give out and we’d both be in trouble. So here I was at the end of the pack, perfectly content to just mosey on into the city. I couldn’t shake the feeling that we were being followed. If I was being honest, I had felt like this since last night when we saw those figures on the cliff. 

I dismounted my horse and walked over to where my brother was giving orders to Dr. Chamberlain to give to the local diggers they had hired. I didn’t like Dr. Chamberlain. We were both well-educated in our field, yet he still held himself above everyone else here and looked down on me as I am a woman. “I don’t think that way is going to work. That door looks like it was shut good and tight.” I informed them. 

“Worst case scenario, I brought something special from home,” Jack said, pulling a stick of dynamite out of a crate that was off to the side. 

“Great,” I said sarcastically, “Let’s just scare the crap out of anyone in a fifty-mile radius.” He just responded with a sheepish smile and I shook my head, smiling back at him. My brother, he was the only person I knew who got super excited at the possibility of blowing shit up. We jumped at the sound of the diggers yelling, letting us know that they had succeeded in opening the door. Jack entered the tunnel first; I was right behind him. I could tell that the good doctor was put off by that but what was he going to do about it. I looked around in amazement. The hieroglyphs on the wall were stunning. By the light of the torches that one of us thought to light, I could make out some intense stories in the glyphs detailing life at the time of Seti I. 

Continuing forward. Jack led us into a room where a pair of legs were coming down from the ceiling. “This must be it, the statue of Anubis.” I whispered. I was going to continue but we all heard a noise coming from around the other side of the statue. Immediately on edge, we had all heard the stories of this place being cursed, I grabbed my pistol out of its holder on my leg, flipping off the safety. Jack turned to us and held up three fingers, signaling to us to jump out on three. When he reached one, we jumped around the legs of Anubis, guns drawn. 

I was met with the end of Rick’s gun. Relief immediately flooded through me. ‘Thank God that wasn’t a mummy,’ I couldn’t help but think. My brother, however, was more put out. “Jesus, O’Connell, you scared the shit out of us,” he breathed out before sighing in relief.

“Likewise.”

I noticed Evy standing behind Rick and her brother, holding something that she hadn’t had the last time I saw her. But in this crappy lighting, I couldn’t make out what it was. Bernard, however, did. “Hey, that’s my toolkit.” He said, just now realizing that it was missing. Evy immediately pulled it to her chest and Rick and Jonathan raised their guns back up. 

“I don’t think so.” Rick warned him. I wasn’t the slightest bit impressed by this measuring contest they were having with their guns, so I put mine away and stepped back, trying to get Jack to do the same, which went over about as well as one would think. 

“Okay. Perhaps I was mistaken.” Poor Bernard, he never was one for confrontation, even if it meant losing something of value of his. 

“Well, this has been exciting, gentlemen, Margaret. But we have a lot of work ahead of us.” Evy said, trying to diffuse the situation and get us to move along. This wasn’t going to go over well, I already knew.

As if he had read my mind, Dr. Chamberlain finally decided to make himself known. “Push off! This is our dig site.” He told her in a very snooty way. Goodness, could this man get any more annoying?

Evy, it seemed was not one to back down, not even from the royal prick. “We got here first.” She countered. I was inclined to agree with her seeing as I didn’t think we’d find what the others in my group were looking for in a statue, but it was now a matter of male pride with them, something even my brother was having trouble overcoming seeing as they all whipped out their guns again. 

“This is our statue, friend,” Daniels seemed to feel the need to let them know. 

“I don’t see your name on it, pal,” came Rick’s witty response.

“Yes, well there are only four of you and fifteen of me. The odds aren’t in your favor, are they O’Connell?” Beni taunted. Personally, I would’ve fed Beni to whatever bugs might be lying in wait in here, but my brother and the others promised to pay him and unfortunately, my brother was good on his word. 

“I’ve had worse.” Rick responded to him and based on the look he was giving Beni; I would say Beni knew exactly what he was talking about. 

“Yeah, me too.” Somehow, I wasn’t surprised that Jonathan had a similar experience. 

“Goodness gracious children. Must it always come to violence?” I asked them. Bernard and Jack at least had the decency to look ashamed, Daniels just grunted and rolled his eyes at me. I had a hand on one of Jack’s guns, attempting to get him to lower it. Seeing the look on my face, one that I had perfected from momma over the years, Jack slowly lowered his guns. 

“Exactly. Let’s be nice children. If we’re going to play together, we must learn to share.” Evy said, walking up to the rest of them, lowering their weapons as she spoke. “There are other places to dig.” She said, turning to Rick and lowering his gun last. With that they turned and walked down the corridor that they had come from. Dr. Chamberlain and Daniels looked mighty proud of themselves. I couldn’t stop the eyeroll that was brought on by their actions. 

Jack, fueled by adrenaline I’m sure, rushed over to the front of the statue and made to try to pry it apart. “Maybe we don’t do that brother dearest. The Ancient Egyptians are known for their booby traps.” I warned him. Hell must have been freezing over seeing as how Dr. Chamberlain agreed with me.

“Yes. Let us use some of the diggers.” He said before ordering three men to come and open the secret compartment at the base of Anubis. When they weren’t moving fast enough for his liking, he started yelling at them to hurry up. They had finally managed to knock something loose. However, it was fitted with a booby trap and a cloud of pressurized acid blew out of the statue, covering them and immediately started sizzling off their skin. 

Now I’m not one with a weak stomach, truly. Growing up on a ranch, you see all sorts of nasty things. But even all that couldn’t have prepared me for watching men melt and their skin dissolve. Gagging, I turned my head into Jack’s shoulder. “God that was vile,” I said. The others just nodded in agreement. “Maybe we should stop here for today?” I suggested. Again, all they could manage was to nod in agreement. 

Walking slowly back the way we came, none of us had the courage to speak. That was, without a doubt, the nastiest thing I had ever seen. And I’m sure the others were in agreement. Back on the outside, we quickly set up camp before the sun started to sink back below the horizon and the desert started to cool off. I started shivering, even by the fire. I had been able to change out of the dress I had been wearing back into a pair of my riding pants and a cotton button up that had once belonged to Jack, but even that did little to shield me from the cold. Noticing that I was shivering, Bernard brought me a blanket and draped it over my shoulders. “Thank you.” I replied to him, smiling in appreciation. He sat down next to me and we both just stared into the fire, comfortable in each other’s silence. 

We had always been like this, since we met in the university’s library as freshmen. He was shy and extremely awkward, fumbling over his words as he asked me if I worked there and if I could help him find a book he needed for a paper. I had tried my best to not giggle as I informed him that I was a student there, but I would definitely help him find the book. He had been so flustered, fumbling over his words as he tried to get out an apology. I assured him I wasn’t offended, and we went about finding his book. And the rest, as they say, is history. We had become inseparable. And here we were ten years later, still the same way. 

However, silence was made to be broken and he quietly informed me that he was going to go shave before calling it a night. But I was lost in my own mind and didn’t register that he had said anything. I continued to stare into the fire, mesmerized by the dancing of the flame, completely unaware of the world around me. That was until I heard the faint sound of neighing horses in the distance brought me back to the present and standing up, alert to my surroundings. It hadn’t been any of the horses we had, they were all looking out beyond the perimeter wall of the city, ears flicking back and forth, taking in the sounds that we couldn’t quite hear. They started stamping in anticipation, and I was getting nervous. They sensed something. 

As if on cue, a group of riders in black robes came jumping over the half wall, firing guns into our camp. Throwing the blanket off of me, I jumped behind a pillar to avoid the bullets being fired in my direction. I was vaguely aware of Jack and Daniels joining the party from their respective tents, with Dr. Chamberlain yelling like a girl to get Jack’s attention. Rolling my eyes, I took out my pistol, checking to make sure it was fully loaded. When the next rider came past me with his gun raised in my direction, I took aim and fired, hitting him in the shoulder. He fell from his horse with a groan. Moving on I made my way towards the center of our campsite. I heard Jack shout something at me, but over all of the noises from gunshots and the riders yelling to each other, I couldn’t make out what he was saying. 

That was until I got knocked down by a rider, who had flung himself off of his horse to tackle me. Before he had a chance to pin my hand down, I was able to introduce myself with a right hook. I got him just good enough that his head snapped back and in doing so, the bottom half of his turban came loose. Damn! When I say that this man was the most gorgeous person I have ever seen, I am not exaggerating. He had the darkest brown eyes that I couldn’t help but get momentarily lost in, perfectly sculpted cheek bones and a beard that was just long enough to make him look rugged but not enough to age him prematurely. He was the perfect example of tall, dark and handsome. 

I guess being this up close and personal with me had finally alerted him to my more feminine features. He jumped back; shock written all over his face. I smirked and took the dagger out of my boot, lunging at him, which he side-stepped out of the way of without thought. Realization dawned on him and me that we had already faced off with each other on the boat the night that it was attacked. I lunged again but he had pulled out his sword and was able to block it. We went on like this for a little bit before Rick had apparently noticed that I was in need of help and shot the man’s sword out of his hand. I lunged again, in an attempt to get him to back the hell off. But out of nowhere he had another sword. We were inching closer and closer to the fire still lit on the ground when I noticed Rick scoop down and pick something up from the fire pit. 

Looking out of the corner of my eye, I nearly dropped my weapon when I saw that he had lit a stick of dynamite. What the hell was it with men and explosives. I mean come on! I turned to him to yell at him to blow it out, but my attacker decided that the threat was too great and called off his men. “Enough. We will shed no more blood, but you must leave. Leave this place or die.” He mounted the horse that one of his survivors brought to him. “You have one day.” With that warning, and another weird look in my direction, he turned and him and his men left the city. 

Looking around, I started assessing the damage. Most of our camp was trashed, tents burned to rags or nothing at all, half of our diggers laid dead in the sand. Was whatever might be buried under our feet really worth the death and destruction that had occurred tonight? I wasn’t so sure. And it wasn’t just our people that were gone. It seems that the others weren’t as nice in their aiming. The few men I shot, I aimed to injure, not kill.   
I walked over to Bernard. “Are you ok?” He still had half a face of shaving cream from earlier, before being rudely interrupted by our “guests”.

“Yeah. Just a little on edge you know?”

“That proves it. Seti’s treasure must be out here!” my idiot brother yelled across the campsite. 

“Why else would they be protecting this place?” Daniels asked. I just shook my head. Sometimes you couldn’t reason with stupid. 

“These are desert people. They don’t have value for gold. Water is more important.” I informed them. Bernard walked up to Rick and Evy and suggested that we combine forces at night. Rick seemed to be in agreement of this and they moved their things over to our camp. I approached Evy and said that I had a spare bed roll in my tent if she wanted to have some privacy from the men. She looked at me and smiled graciously, nodding and taking me up on my offer. I showed her over to my tent and leaving her to make herself comfortable. 

I returned to the fire and sat down, feeling someone approach me from behind. “What is it Jack?” I asked, not even having to look to know it was my twin behind me. 

“We’re thinking of setting up a watch rotation in case those guys come back. You want in?”

“Sure. I’ll take second watch.” I told him. 

“Ok. I’ll come and wake you up in an hour or two. Try to get some sleep.” He said before going to grab his rifle and heading to the perimeter wall. I waited until he was safely perched in his spot before walking over to my tent and laying down on my bed roll. The adrenaline rush that the fighting kicked up had been drained and I was exhausted. I passed out as soon as my head hit the pillow. 

Two hours later

I barely felt like I slept at all when I heard Jack whispering for me to wake up from the opening of my tent. Dazed and slightly confused, I fixed my shirt to make sure it was covering everything, and I quietly exited my tent. My twin must have a death wish because he took one look at my hair, in all its messed-up glory, and decided that laughing was a good idea. I punched him in the gut as I walked past. He stopped long enough to tell me I was waking Daniel’s next before walking over to his tent and crawling inside to sleep until sunrise. 

I walked over to the entrance of the city and hopped over the wall. Looking out across the desert I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, so I sat down, back against the wall and propped my brother’s gun up against my leg. I took a couple moments just to make sure there wasn’t anyone sneaking up on us before I pulled my journal out of my boot, along with a pencil. I leaned back and started detailing the events of the day.  
“Today we arrived at Hamunaptra. I had been separated from my brother after an attack on the boat that we were using on our journey to the city. He is here and all was mostly well. We lost three of our diggers to a   
salt acid booby trap set up by the ancients who once lived here. And then we lost more when our camp was invaded by a local desert tribe, demanding that we leave. I got into a mild infraction with the one who I’m   
assuming is the leader before one from the other group of explorers decided he was going to threaten to blow us all up with a stick of dynamite. He intrigues me, this leader. When we fought on the boat, he was   
hesitant, like he didn’t want to hurt me, which sounds preposterous. We were fighting on opposing sides, why wouldn’t he want to hurt me? Why can’t I stop thinking about him? Probably because he is gorgeous,   
with the deepest brown eyes I’ve ever seen. And his voice, oh my goodness. Snap out of it Peggy! Now is not the time to develop a crush on the most unavailable guy ever.”

I was startled out of my inner musings by the sound of an approaching horse. Placing my journal on the ground, I stood up and grabbed the rifle next to me. I saw a single rider approaching me from the side. Aiming my gun at him, I waited until he was within earshot before saying, “If you’re here to threaten us some more, I’m afraid you won’t get too far.” 

He seemed amused by this, or at least I guess he was because he had the audacity to laugh at my statement. Ok, I didn’t think I was that funny asshole. “We saw you sitting out here. Do your people always let women stand guard?”

“Excuse me?” I couldn’t believe this guy. “You came and attacked our camp and you’re shocked at what we’re doing? Yeah, my people let a woman stand guard.” 

“I am sorry. I meant no offense. I haven’t met many American women before.”

“Well, I’m not a typical American woman.” I had to give him that one. Unless you grew up on the frontier, girls weren’t always as rough around the edges as me and my sisters were. “What is your name? It’s not every day that I’m almost killed and then insulted by the same person.” I said jokingly. 

“Ardeth Bay. What is yours?” Ardeth Bay, that name suited him. Powerful, yet mysterious. 

“Margaret Henderson, but everyone back home calls me Peggy.”

“I would say that it is nice to meet you Margaret but considering the circumstances…” Goodness, the way my name sounded on his lips, I was going to get myself into some serious trouble. “But I must plead with you. Leave this city, before it’s too late. There are older, fouler curses within these walls than just salt acid traps,” I was shocked that he knew about that. “Please, for your safety and the safety of your friends, go home.”

Something in his voice startled me. The raw emotion maybe. He was serious. “What’s out there? What curses?” 

“I cannot say. But please, before you don’t have a choice, please leave.”

“My brother and friends are stubborn people. And no one is as stubborn as that damn Egyptologist they hired. They’re not going to just walk away empty handed.”

“You must convince them. We aren’t the biggest threat out here.” And with that, he rode off, leaving me with more questions than answers, more doubts that this wasn’t what we should be doing. I finished out the rest of my watch and woke Daniels before crawling into my tent and letting sleep claim me with dreams of mummies and curses and plagues. What was going on here?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know its not Friday, but I had this chapter done and I just couldn't wait to upload. Plus, now I have time to work on Friday's upload.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still don't own The Mummy, so anything recognizable obviously belongs to Stephen Sommers and Universal. Also anything that is being said in Arabic, I have bolded and italicized.

I woke up feeling like I got hit by a freight train. Sleep wasn’t so easy to come by last night, not with the dreams, or maybe they were warnings, spurned by the conversation I had had with Ardeth before. The dead walking amongst us again, fire raining from the heavens and a chilling voice in my ear, taunting me that I would be too late. Honestly, I was over this place. While it may have been my idea to come to Egypt for an adventure, I was afraid I had bitten off more than I could chew.

Grumbling a greeting to my brother, Jack looked at me in concern. I wasn’t normally much of a morning person, but he could just tell something else was bothering me. He approached me slowly, offering a cup of coffee as a sign of peace. Still mumbling about the sun and lack of sleep, I downed my coffee in record time. Going back to my tent I found it empty. Evy was already up and heading to their dig site. Making the best of the privacy, I changed into a new top and threw my hair up into a high ponytail, off of my neck to give me some relief from the heat. Shaking out my boots to make sure there weren’t any bugs in them, I pulled them on as I exited my tent and went over to Jack.

“Are you ok? You didn’t seem like yourself this morning.” He was hovering worse than he normally did, last night’s raid must have shaken him more than he was letting on.

“Yeah. I just didn’t sleep that well after my watch.” I answered, brushing off his worry. Those dreams couldn’t have meant anything, just anxiety over Ardeth’s warnings.

“I’m not putting you in the watch rotation tonight. You’re getting a full night’s rest.” He said, looking me over, checking for any other signs that I might not be alright.

“Yes mom,” I said with a roll of my eyes. “Honestly Jack, I’m fine. It was just a long night. The coffee is already working.” He didn’t look quite convinced. It was in these moments that I hated having a twin. It was like we had a built-in censor that went off any time the other wasn’t ok and right now I didn’t need Jack acting like a frazzled mother hen.

“If you’re sure. Come on. We’re going to open that compartment today.” He said before leaving me to join Daniels and Bernard. I looked around my site, making sure I had everything that I would need for the day. Looking around, I couldn’t find my journal. Shit! Where did that go? I had it last night when I was on watch. I set it down when I heard Ardeth approach. Shit! I left it outside the city. I quickly ran back to my watch spot from last night, looking all around and even digging into the sand, searching for my journal. It wasn’t there. Fuck! Maybe Daniels saw it and picked it up during his watch. Running back to the group, we started making our way inside to the statue of Anubis.

I fell into step with Daniels. “Hey, did you by any chance see a journal on the ground during your watch? I seemed to have left it out there and it wasn’t there when I went to check just now.” I asked him.

“Oh, you mean this journal?” he asked, pulling my journal out of his pack. “Yeah, I found it. Read it too.” He said smugly. He smirked at me, wagging his eyebrows. Yep, he definitely read it. He knew about this new infatuation I had with Ardeth.

“I swear to God Daniels, if you mention anything that you read to anyone, let alone Jack, I’ll make sure you never make it back to Cairo.” I threatened, grabbing my journal from his grasp.

“Oh, I won’t tell your brother all about the big crush you have on that guy who almost killed you.” He taunted me. I punched him hard in the chest, a warning of what was to come if he couldn’t find it in himself to keep his trap shut and walked ahead to where Jack and Bernard were. Jack gave me a weird look, having heard Daniels groan in pain when I hit him but I just shook my head and entered the statue room.

Now that the compartment was void of any booby traps, the diggers made quick work of getting out whatever what inside. Which turned out to be a chest. A red chest with black hieroglyphs on it. Kneeling on the ground and bringing a torch close to have some light, Dr. Chamberlain and I made quick work of translating it. “There is a curse upon this chest.” Dr. Chamberlain said. Daniels didn’t look too convinced.

“What’s it say Peggy?” Jack asked me.

“’Death will come on swift wings to whomsoever opens this chest.’” At this, a wind blew through the room and our lights started to dim. The diggers started yelling and ran from the room in fright.

“We should not be here. This is not good.” Beni said, looking around in case of a threat. For once, I actually agreed with him. Something was really off about this place. Dr. Chamberlain ignored Beni’s observation and continued on with the translation.

“’There is one, the undead, who, if brought back to life, is bound by sacred law to consummate this curse.’”

“Well let’s make sure we don’t bring anyone back from the dead then.” Daniels said. This was the first time that I could tell he was genuinely scared of what may lie ahead.

“There’s still more here. ‘He will kill all who open this chest and assimilate their organs and fluids, and in so doing, he will regenerate and no longer be the undead, but a plague upon this Earth.’” I finished the translation.

“Well, we didn’t come all this way for nothing. Let’s crack open this chest.” Daniels ordered. Beni, however, didn’t look like he was up for the task. He was paler than normal and sweating profusely before he turned tail and ran out of the room screaming about a curse. Jack seemed to be worried too and told me to leave while they opened it.

“You don’t believe in curses Jack. There is no way someone is going to come back from the dead and kill us.” I argued in vain as he pushed me through the tunnel and back out into the sun.

“I don’t care. If anything happens to you, mom will kill me. I’d take a curse over that any day. Now stay here and don’t do anything stupid.” He told me, before turning and going back inside. I sighed before kicking some sand up and heading over to my tent to get my water skin, taking a sip and splashing some on my face. This wasn’t fair. I was the one that had done the research for this trip, gotten the education required to be in this field and now, during a moment of big discovery, I was forced to stay outside and hope they wouldn’t mess up any artifacts. This was bullshit! My eyes scanned the hills surrounding the city, searching for him.

Why was I so caught up on this guy? He had tried to kill us. I knew Jack was concerned. Normally I’m quick on the draw and I don’t ever hesitate. But last night I did. There was something in his eyes that stopped me. Even though I could tell he was trained and fully capable of killing me, there was surprise in his face when he realized I wasn’t just another man. For a split second after that, I could have sworn I saw a slight smile, like the sight of a woman in battle amused him. And then there was something else, almost a recognition that went deeper than our previous encounter on the steamer on the Nile.

At dusk they came back out, not empty handed though. Each of them was carrying a jar and Dr. Chamberlain had a big black book in his hands. “What was in it?” I asked Jack, walking up him.

“There was that book there that Dr. Chamberlain has, and these jars filled with sand.” He said before handing me his that had the head of Horus on it. I inspected it before laughter overtook me. “What? What’s so funny?” Jack asked me. By this point, the sound of my laughter had brought Bernard and Daniels over to us as well.

“That’s not sand in those jars. These are canopic jars. During the mummification process the vital organs are removed and put into sacred jars that are then buried with the deceased. Each jar has a son of Horus carved on the lid and that signifies which vital organ was placed inside,” I paused and turned to Bernard pointing at his. “That in Imsety, it contains the liver. Hapi, the one with the baboon head, contains the lungs. Duamutef, the jackal, contains the stomach. Finally, that one is Qebehsenuef, and those were intestines inside it.”

“What about the heart? Wouldn’t they want that too?” Daniels asked.

“The heart was left in the body as it housed intelligence and feeling, and you would need those in the afterlife.” By this point Rick and Jonathan had joined our group in front of the fire.

“Say O’Connell, what do you think these babies’ll fetch back home?” Jack asked him with a shit eating grin. I smacked him on the back of the head. “What?” I just rolled my eyes.

“We hear you boys found yourselves a nice gooey mummy. Congratulations.” Bernard added. There were times that I really regretted introducing Bernard to my brother and Daniels, who had been friends with Jack since we were children. Bernard used to be so sweet and most of the time he still was. But he had obtained a certain quality that only came from spending a large amount of time with my brother and his friend. In short, he could sometimes be a really big ass.

Not to be left out, Daniels added, “You know, if you dry that fellow out, you might be able to sell him for firewood.” They all started laughing at this.

“Oh yes, ha ha. What wit you three possess. I too need three people in order to make a joke work.” I retorted. Honestly, sometimes they acted like children. Jack and Bernard looked down at my scolding. Daniels just smirked and wagged his eyebrows, daring me to continue so he could out me in front of the others. I glared at him before turning my attention to Evy, who was walking up with something in her hands.

“Look what I found.” She said excitedly. Rick forced Beni to vacate the space in between him and Jonathan and Evy plopped down. “Scarab skeletons, flesh-eaters. I found them inside our friend’s coffin. They can stay alive for years feasting on the flesh of a corpse.”

“Gross.” I inputted.

“I have to agree with you. Unfortunately for our friend, he was still alive when they started eating him.”

“Double gross.” I shuddered. I really didn’t like bugs.

“So, somebody threw these in with our guy, and then they slowly ate him alive?” Rick asked. I gagged a little.

“Very slowly.” Evy confirmed.

“Just what I needed, an irrational fear, death by man eating bugs.” I quipped.

“What did he do to piss off the powers that be?” Jonathan wondered out loud.

“He probably got too frisky with the pharaoh’s daughter.” Rick said with a smirk, one that the rest of the guys in the group were quick to return.

“Lovely. Must everything automatically go that way with men? Have some class, or at least the decency to have a good poker face.” I scolded them.

“According to my research, our friend suffered the Hom-Dai, the worst of all Ancient Egyptian curses, one reserved only for the most evil of blasphemers. In every book that I’ve read that mentions it, they’ve never said that it was actually used. They feared it too much. It’s written that if a victim of the Hom-Dai should ever arise, he would bring with him the ten plagues of Egypt.” Evy informed us.

“Why the hell would they give someone who was so evil the power to bring about the plagues? I mean honestly, who’s bright idea was it to make them near invincible?” I asked.

“The curse doesn’t actually exist Peggy. There’s no need to worry about plagues and mummies coming to life. It’s not real.” Evy reassured me. I wasn’t too convinced. My conversation with Ardeth last night and the dreams I had afterward were making me weary of staying here another night.

With all the talks of curses, I think we were all a little on edge and quickly decided to turn in for the night. I was somewhat reluctant. I did not need another restless night of dreams filled with juicy mummies and hell on earth. I laid in my tent staring up at the ceiling for what seemed like hours before a fitful sleep took me. Opening my eyes in my dream, I found myself inside the ruins, except they weren’t ruins. The city was still inhabited, or at the very least, there were some people there. I was in a preparation room, filled with men wearing jackal masks, servants of the god Anubis, and men standing guard who were wearing head coverings like the pharaoh but with strange tattoos on their foreheads and cheeks. Their bodies were also littered with tattoos, but whatever language they were written in wasn’t one that I was fluent in, or even able to recognize.

There were bald men, their bodies completed painted in gold, that were being mummified alive. Some were in the process of being wrapped, others were having their brains removed through their nostrils. I winced. Reading about the process of mummification and watching it be performed on the living were two entirely different things. One of the servants called for a Medjai to help him hold down a priest that was trying to fight back. “What is a Medjai?” I wondered. I didn’t have to wonder for long as one of the men with the head covering like a pharaoh came to assist him.

As I continued my survey of the room, more Medjai and servants of Anubis came in, escorting another bald man. A priest I assumed. This one, however, was not covered in gold paint. A group of Medjai held him down and forced his tongue out of his mouth and held it there as the servants grabbed a large knife and cut off his tongue. They then began wrapping him in the same gauze they used on the others and placed him inside a sarcophagus.

If I thought this couldn’t get worse, I was wrong. I watched as another man came over with a large pot and dumped its contents into the sarcophagus. I looked over and saw thousands of scarabs biting into the body, starting the very slow process of eating him alive.

And just as suddenly as I was thrust into the dream, I was pulled from it by an unearthly scream. I shot up in my tent, almost bringing it down around me. “No! You must not read from the book!” I heard Dr. Chamberlain yell. Getting out of my tent, I made my way over to where Jack had just come out of a tent with Bernard and Daniels. “And what were you three doing in there?” I asked with a shit eating grin on my face. Bernard looked shocked and disgusted and Daniels like he wanted to punch me. Jack, however, did punch me in the arm but I saw his eyes go wide.

I slowly turned around and saw a dark cloud coming right at us. It was clicking and I heard the flapping of thousands of little wings. “Locusts!” I yelled as we all started running towards the entrance into the city.

“Run!” Jack yelled. Not turning back, I wasn’t sure who all had followed us, but I was right behind Bernard. We got into the tunnel and I was pushed by Jonathan into Bernard, causing him to fall and me to fall on top of him.

“My glasses! Where are my glasses?” he asked frantically. I rolled over off of him to help him find them when we heard Beni run up behind us screaming at something that wasn’t there to leave him. As he passed us, we heard the tinkle of broken glass and I saw Bernard pick up his glasses, both lenses broken.

“Come on Berny. We have to keep moving.” I said, calling him by the nickname I gave him our first semester of college. I grabbed his arm and started leading him deeper and deeper into the tunnels. Something ran out quickly in front of us. I stopped and turned us around and there it went past us again. Berny was starting to panic so I turned us around again, determined to get out of here, when I came face to face (kind of) with the mummy that Rick and Evy had been talking about. I screamed and Bernard tensed up, only being able to see the general shape of the creature before us. The creature picked me up and threw me into a wall. I landed, hard on my back, black spots dancing in my vision. Just before I passed out, I saw the creature do something weird to Bernard and heard Bernard give out the most painful scream I had ever heard.

I came to in someone’s arms. Whoever they were, they were tall, that much I could tell because I was getting a weird sense of vertigo. Turning my head slightly, I saw a black clad chest. Before I had the opportunity to look up, I heard guns being cocked and saw Rick, Evy, Jonathan, Jack, and Daniels come to a screeching halt in front of us. “What are you doing with my sister you sick freak?” Jack yelled at the one holding me. I felt the vibrations of whoever he was as he spoke.

“I told you to leave or die. You refused. Now you may have killed us all for you have unleashed the creature that we have feared for more than three thousand years.” It was Ardeth who had me.

“Relax, I got him” Rick said.

“No mortal weapon can kill this creature. He is not of this world.” As Ardeth said this, two of his men brought out Bernard. Wiggling to get down, I fell out of his arms and over to my brother and Daniels who were holding him. I checked over Bernard and was shocked that he no longer had his beautiful blue eyes, or his tongue. He moaned in pain as I ran my fingers through his hair, trying to soothe him.

“You bastard.” Daniels yelled at them.

“What did you do to him?” Jack accused.

“Jack, they didn’t do this.” I told him quietly. I then went on to explain how we got separated and how the creature came for us.

“We saved him. Saved him before the creature could finish his work. Leave, all of you, quickly, before he finishes you all.” He gestured to his men, “Yalla. Imshi.” His men moved, making their way back into the tunnels. “I must now go on the hunt and try and find a way to kill him.” He finished before walking to join his men.

“I already told you, I got him.” Rick said again.

“Know this. This creature is the bringer of death. He will never eat, he will never sleep, and he will never stop.” He turned to join his men. I quickly got up from my place by Berny and walked over to him.

“ ** _Thank you, for saving us._** ” I said quietly. He looked startled, not expecting me to be fluent in Arabic.

“ ** _You are welcome. Please be careful on your journey back. Be quick._ ”** With one last glance, he left to join the rest of his men on the hunt. We packed up quickly, leaving behind anything that was not of importance, racing out of the city and back to Cairo. We rode hard. I tried to focus on the road ahead, but my treacherous thoughts kept going back to how it felt to be in his arms. I already knew that he must be strong. It takes great strength to be able to use a sword for an extended amount of time, but in his arms, I could feel his biceps and abs beneath his robes. I blushed. I shouldn’t be having these thoughts. They were unseemly for a young, unmarried woman to be having about a man. Plus, I had bigger problems. Starting with how I was going to protect my brother and friends from this thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter in the books. I'm almost finished with chapter 4 so that will probably get posted early. I know that there was a lot of movie plot in this chapter. I'm trying to get through the movie as quickly as possible so I can get to the original plot that I have created but this is needed to establish my OC. Thank you for bearing with me.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Same as usual. Only thing I can claim ownership of is my OC. 
> 
> I probably should have put this in other chapter but if a text is bold and italicized its in Arabic, and if its just in italics, its Ancient Egyptian.

We rode through most of the night, only stopping for water when it was absolutely necessary. We made it back to Cairo in record time. I was scared, I’ll admit it. That thing wasn’t going to stop just because we had left Hamunaptra, I was certain. I wasn’t even sure an ocean was enough to stop him. Jack and Daniels, however, thought that getting home would bring some safety so they dropped me and Bernard off at the fort and went to the docks to secure us passage back to America.

Gosh, Berny. He moaned and groaned the whole way back and if he had been able to cry, I’m sure he would have been doing that too. I had no idea how to help him, so I got him situated in the rooms that were made available for us and wrapped his head with gauze. “You’re going to be ok Berny. I’m going to get you home.” I promised him.

“Peggy, how’re you going to pull that off?” he asked, or I assume that’s what he was asking. I gently put my hand on his cheek in an attempt to comfort him. He flinched at first, having no warning beforehand but leaned into it, calming down. We sat like this for a little while, trying to process everything that had happened and everything that was yet to come.

That was where Jack and Daniels found us. They came barging in, banging the door, causing both Bernard and me to jump about a foot in the air. “Oh, for goodness’ sake Jack! I know Mama has told you about the proper way to enter a room and it’s not by making as much noise as possible.”

“Sorry Peggy. We have good news, and not so good news.” He said sheepishly.

“Just spit it out.” Daniels said impatiently, walking over to Bernard to check on him. I heard Berny mumble as best he could that he was ok but much like me, Daniels wasn’t convinced of this.

“We were able to find a boat that was leaving for America and get spots on it.”

“But?” I asked.

“It doesn’t leave until tomorrow.” And there was the catch.

“Ok. Well lets pack everything up and get ready to leave first thing in the morning,” I said. They just looked at me, blinking with confusion. “I’m not your servant. I’m packing up Berny’s things and my own. The two of you go back to your rooms and pack your shit up or it’s staying here.” I ordered. That got them up and moving and out the door. Knowing that it wouldn’t take me long to gather up Bernard’s things, I went to work there first. I started in the bathroom, gathering his razor and shaving cream, as well as the rest of his toiletries from the shelf by the tub. Gathering everything in my arms, I went back out into the main room and neatly placed it all into one of his trunks. “I’ll be right back Bernard. I’m going over to my room to start packing my things and clean myself up. I’ll be back in thirty minutes.” He nodded in response before going back to the tea I had set aside for him.

I walked across the hall and entered my rooms, leaving the door open just a little so I’d be able to hear Bernard if he needed me. Gathering my clothes from the closet, I placed them on the bed, folding them before reaching under the bed for my trunk and placing them inside. Finally, I couldn’t take the feeling of dirt and sand and grime that had built up from days in the desert without a proper bath. Walking into my bathroom, I turned on the tub and added some of the bath salts that I had bought in the market when we first arrived in Cairo. Grabbing a fresh pair of undergarments along with a pair of riding pants and one of my nice flowy shirts, I set them on the small pouf in the bathroom by the vanity and got undressed.

I slowly sank into the tub, while the water was still running. The hot water felt amazing. I hadn’t realized just how tightly I was wound until I could feel my muscles slowly start to return to normal. I sank lower, allowing the water to completely covering me, letting the world fall away for just a little. When I came back up, I noticed little rivets of red running down my chest. Opening my mouth, some that was running down my face ran into my mouth. When it hit my tongue, I gagged and spit it out, screaming. Blood, it was fucking blood!

I jumped out of the bathtub, slipping and falling on my ass in the process. I did my best to dry off and get the blood off of me. I quickly got dressed and ran over to Berny’s room. The door was shut and locked. “Fuck!” I thought. I took my gun out of the holder by my side and shot off the handle, forcing it open. What I saw inside would be forever burned into my mind. That creature was standing over Bernard, mouth almost completely unhinged, sucking the life out of him. He dropped Berny back onto the chair, completely drained.

He turned to me and I couldn’t hold back the gasp that came out. Before my very eyes he started regenerating. Skin started to form across his body. I shot at him, but it didn’t seem to do anything. More shots came from behind me, and I turned to see Rick and Evy had entered the room behind me. The creature started coming at us and I pulled Evy over to the bookshelves and out of the way. In his frustration, the creature had picked Rick up and threw him into Jonathan, Daniels and Jack who had just come through the door. He walked over to us and I pulled Evy behind me. I had no idea why, but he seemed infatuated with her. He grabbed me by the neck and threw me across the room, where I landed on Jack.

“ _You saved me from the undead. I thank you._ ” He spoke to Evy before moving to kiss her. I made to get up to stop him but before I could, something caused the piano to make a loud, jarring noise. Looking over, I saw a white cat on top of the keys, ears flat against its head hissing at the creature. He shrieked before spinning into a cloud of sand and blew out the window.

“We are in very serious trouble.” Rick said, staring out the window in horrified amazement. I got up, freeing Jack to do the same.

“Are you ok?” he asked, taking in the state of my hair and red stained face. I was shaking, from fear, exhaustion or adrenaline I wasn’t sure. All I could do was shake my head.

“I left him for five minutes max. I’m so sorry Berny.” I wailed as I walked over to the chair where his body was, collapsing beside it. Jack came over and pulled me up, holding me against him in case I fell again. Daniels looked distraught, an emotion I never wanted to see on him. He might be an asshole, but he cared about Bernard, just like me. 

I hadn’t noticed I was still shaking until Daniels put his overcoat around my shoulders. I nodded in thanks, still not trusting my own voice. “We need answers.” Rick said. We all nodded in agreement.

“And I know just where to go to get them.” Evy said before walking out of the room, the rest of us trailing after her. We made it outside of the fort and Jonathan pulled his car up. Daniels got in the very back, a spot that was normally used for luggage, while Jack settled me in the back seat taking the spot behind the driver. Evy and Rick joined Jonathan in the front. Even in the desert heat, I was still shaking. I could feel Jack’s eyes on me. I knew he was worried, but I just couldn’t bring myself to say anything yet.

We drove through the streets of Cairo and got the Museum of Antiquities in no time at all. Parking out back, we all got out of the vehicle and made our way inside. “He does seem to like you, Evy.” Jonathan pointed out.

“Yeah, what’s that about?” Rick added.

“What’s this guy want?” Jack asked.

“Well right now, I think what he wants is obvious,” I muttered under my breath. They all turned and gave me a look. “What? He’s already taken Bernard. It can’t be that difficult to figure out at least part of his master plan.” We were right outside one of the exhibits when we heard people talking in hushed voices inside.

“There’s only one person I know who could possibly give us any answers.” Evy said before turning into the exhibit and we came face to face with Ardeth and a man with a red fez hat. They both immediately stopped talking when we entered. “You?!” Evy said, loudly. Rick, Daniels and Jack all pulled their guns. Jonathan, fumbling a little pulled his out as well. I just leaned back against one of the walls, not making any movements to “diffuse” the situation with fire power.

“Miss Carnahan, Miss Henderson, gentlemen.” He greeted us. I looked at him, confused. How did he know my name? I sent Ardeth a questioning look. Had he told his friend about me?

“What is he doing here?” Evy asked, pointing at Ardeth as if _he_ was the bringer of death.

“Do you really want to know, or would you prefer to just shoot us?” he asked sarcastically.

“Put y’all’s guns away before you embarrass yourselves.” I hissed at them. “Violence isn’t going to get us any answers.” When none of them made to lower their weapons, I stood in front of Jack, looking at him expectantly, giving him the best mom stare I could manage. He lowered his, the rest of them doing the same.

“After what I just saw, I’m willing to have a little faith,” came Rick’s reply. I walked further into the room, nodding at Ardeth in greeting before seating myself on the floor in front of Seti I’s chariot. The others followed my lead and Dr. Bey, who I now knew him to be, started explaining their history with this creature.

“We are part of an ancient secret society,” he said. This caused me to snap my head up quickly, banging it against the chariot I was leaning against.

“Ow, sorry. Secret society? The Medjai?” I asked. Both Dr. Bey and Ardeth turned and looked at me, shock evident on their faces. 

“How do you know this?” Ardeth asked, looking at me accusingly.

I held up my hands as a sign of submission. “Woah. Calm down. I had this dream while we were still out at Hamunaptra. Do you want me to explain this now? I thought we were in a bit of a hurry.”

“Quite right, Miss Henderson. As I was saying, for over three thousand years, we have guarded the City of the Dead. We are sworn at manhood to do any and all in our power to stop the High Priest Imhotep from being reborn into this world.” He finished, sitting down on the chair to my right.

“And now because of you we have failed.” Ardeth added. I winced. ‘Thanks for that.’ I thought.

“You think this justifies the killing of innocent people?” Evy asked, disgusted.

“To stop this creature? Let me think…” Dr. Bey responded.

“YES!” both he and Ardeth shouted. Evy looked offended.

“You can’t exactly blame them Evy. We’ve already seen some of what this thing is capable of. Some of us have felt first-hand what it is capable of,” I said rubbing the spot on the back of my head where I collided with the wall in Bernard’s room earlier. “And apparently it doesn’t take much for curious, idiotic explorers to bring about the next apocalypse, so I would say they are justified in their actions.” They all looked at me like I had grown an extra head. “You can’t be surprised that I’m siding with them, can you?” I asked. “I told you that that chest shouldn’t be opened. But you wouldn’t listen to me.” I said, this time turning my anger on my brother and Daniels. Neither one of them were happy with my accusations, throwing me dirty looks in the process.

In an attempt to diffuse the situation and change the heated subject, Rick raised his hand and asked, “Question, why doesn’t he like cats?” I couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped because of the look on his face.

“Cats are the guardians of the underworld. He will fear them until he is fully regenerated.” Dr Bey explained.

“And then he will fear nothing.” Ardeth added. I had to give them props. They were really good at finishing each other’s sentences.

“And you wanna know how he gets himself fully regenerated?” Daniels asked in a panic.

“By killing everyone that opened that chest,” Jack started.

“And sucking them dry, that’s how.” Daniels finished, several octaves above his normally deep voice. I took this time to look over at Jack. He sat stone-faced fiddling with his gun, but I knew him well enough that I could see the fear was starting to set in behind that I-couldn’t-care-less attitude he was putting off. I started to panic. I was going to lose him. I already knew it. How could I stop this thing from killing him? What powers did I have to stand against some tripped out ancient priest on a revenge kick? I started to hyperventilate; my eyes wide as I tried to catch a breath that wouldn’t come. Ardeth noticed this and kneeled down next to me, taking my hands and rubbing soothing circles against them. I looked into his eyes, barely registering what he was telling me. I don’t know if it was the peace I saw in his deep brown eyes or the calmness in his voice, I found myself able to breathe normally again. I looked up and smiled at him. “Thank you.” I said quietly. He nodded before stepping back.

I looked over and saw Jack hovering close by, staring daggers into the back of Ardeth’s head. I looked at him, silently begging him to sit down and not start anything. Jack had a nasty habit of running men out of my life. While my mother might say it was my mouth, I knew it was because no man had met Jack’s standards, which were higher than even our father’s. I didn’t know why Jack was so upset though. Ardeth was mostly a stranger to me. Besides one conversation, the only time we had spent in each other’s presence was at the pointy end of the other’s sword or dagger. Yeah, I found him insanely attractive and sweet, but that didn’t mean anything.

“I’m fine Jack. Ease up a bit. The protective brother routine is getting old.” I whispered just low enough that only he heard it.

“I don’t like the way he looks at you.” He said, glancing at Ardeth to ensure I knew who he was talking about.

“He looks at me no different than the rest of you,” I said, “and even if he didn’t, it’s not your place to chase him off. If I don’t appreciate his attention, I’ll let him know.”

Evy had ceased her pacing and turned back to Dr. Bey and Ardeth. “When I saw him at Hamunaptra, he called me Anck su Namun.” She paused when we saw a look pass between Dr. Bey and Ardeth. “And then just now in Mr. Burns’ quarters, he tried to kiss me.” I gagged a little, both at the memory of a slightly fleshy skeleton trying to plant one on Evy but also how Berny looked when we found him. Jack sensing my discomfort, put his arm around my shoulders and just stood there with me.

“It’s because of his love of Anck su Namun that he was cursed. Apparently, even after three thousand years…” Dr. Bey said.

“He is still in love with her.” Ardeth finished.

“Yes, that is very romantic, but what has it got to do with me?” Evy asked, and honestly, I was a little scared to find out the answer.

“Perhaps he will once again try to raise her from the dead.” Ardeth said, this time just to Dr. Bey.

“Yes. And it appears he has already chosen his human sacrifice.” Dr. Bey concluded, both of them turning to look at Evy.

“Bad luck ol’ mum.” Jonathan said from his spot in the chariot above me.

“On the contrary, it may just give us the time we need to kill the creature.” Dr. Bey said, thoughtfully. From my vantage point on the floor, I had a clear view of the skylight and noticed that something was coming into view. I stood up and tapped on Ardeth’s shoulder. When he turned to me, I pointed up at the sky. Realization dawned on him as he moved towards the center of the room.

“We will need all the help we can get. His powers are growing.” Ardeth said. By this point, the moon had almost completely eclipsed the sun, sending the room into an eerie glow. I shivered, feeling the effect of his power over us.

“’And he stretched forth his hand towards the heavens and there was darkness throughout the land of Egypt.’” Jonathan said.

“Thank you, Jonathan, that wasn’t at all creepy.” I said sarcastically.

“We need to get back to the safety of the fort.” Rick said. Everyone nodded in agreement and made their way back to the car. I stayed back for a second.

“My brother needs me right now, but if you can meet in an hour, I’ll tell you about the dream I had, Medjai.” I told Ardeth. He nodded his head in agreement.

“One hour, back here.”

“See you then,” I said before turning to leave. I walked past my brother who I was expecting to follow me out. When he didn’t, I turned and looked at him, silently asking him what he was doing. He shook his head and nodded for me to wait for him downstairs.

Jack’s POV

I didn’t like that my sister and this guy were so fascinated by each other. They had only met a couple of times and I could see all over my sister’s face, no matter how hard she tried to hide it, that she felt some type of something for this guy. And based on the way he worked her through her attack, I was willing to put money on him feeling some sort of something for her too. I also knew that I probably wasn’t going to make it through the night, not with how everything was heading. I needed someone to protect her when I wouldn’t be around to do it myself. “We need to talk.” I said to him.

He led me out of the room and into a smaller alcove across the hall, looking at me expectantly to start talking. “You and I both know this isn’t going to end well for me, or Daniels for that matter. There’s not a lot of people I trust to keep her safe. Even fewer on this side of the world. But for some reason, you and she seem to be fond of each other,” at this Ardeth looked like he was going to say something, “I don’t really need an explanation. I just need your word that you’ll do whatever it takes to get her through this shit and get home to our family in one piece.”

He looked shocked at my bluntness but nodded his head in agreement. “You have my word.” I extended my hand, and he shook it, sealing our agreement. With that we turned and walked back to the entrance, where Peggy and the rest of them were waiting for me.

Peggy’s POV

I looked up when I heard footsteps heading our way, signaling that Jack was finished with his talk with Ardeth. I gave him a questioning look, but he just shook his head. I turned back to Ardeth, hoping that he might be able to give me some insight into what they had discussed but he seemed determined to look anywhere but at me. Confused, I followed the rest of the group out of the museum as we headed back to the fort.

We were all holed up in Evy’s room, trying to figure a way out of this nightmare. “We must stop him from regenerating. Who opened that chest?” Evy asked.

“Well, there was me and Daniels here. And Burns, of course.” Jack rattled off. I turned and walked towards a bench on the far side of the room. Bernard’s death was going to haunt me for the rest of my life, I was sure of it.

“And that Egyptologist fellow.” Daniels added.

“What about my buddy Beni?” Rick asked.

“Nah, he pretty much scrammed out of there before we could open the damn thing.” Daniels said.

“Yeah, he was the smart one.” Jack said.

“I wouldn’t call him smart. More like self-serving and narcissistic.” I said from my spot in the corner.

“Yeah, that sounds like Beni.” Rick said.

“What about you Peggy?” Evy asked.

“As soon as the curse was mentioned, I was forced out of the ruins, so I’m clean, so to speak.” I said, frowning at Jack as I did so. Not that I wanted to die, but I shouldn’t be allowed to live while he died for something that I started.

“Now we need to find the Egyptologist and bring him back to the safety of the fort.” Evy suggested.

“Right. She stays here. You three, come with me.” Rick ordered, pointing to Jonathan, Daniels and Jack. Everyone started yelling at once with Daniels and Jack determined to stay put, Jonathan not wanting to leave either and Evy on a mission to go along.

“You’re staying here too. Just because he’s not after you doesn’t mean I want you running around out there looking for him, trying to get yourself killed.” Jack informed me.

“And what do any of you know of Ancient Egyptian curses besides Evy? You’re going to need me!” I yelled at him.

In the process of Evy and I voicing our displeasure of the way things were going, Rick picked her up like a sack of potatoes and tossed her into her room, with Jack doing the same to me. “Jack, when I get out of here, you’re dead! That mummy isn’t going to be able to use you for your fluids by the time I’m through with you! There won’t be anything left!”

“O’Connell, you are not leaving me in here!” Evy shouted as Rick closed the door, locking us both inside.

“Oh, this is ridiculous! We’re supposed to just sit here like lame ducks while they go out and try not to fuck things up any more than they already have?!” I exclaimed.

“Jonathan if you don’t open this door right now!” Evy was still trying to reason with them. I had an ear to the door trying to figure out what exactly was going on outside.

“Evy, shush. I think Rick and your brother have left.”

“They wouldn’t.”

“I’m pretty sure I just heard the door close. And I only hear Jack and Daniels out there right now.” I said, before putting my ear back to the door. I heard Jack fiddling with his gun and Daniels pacing, mumbling under his breath, but other than that, it was quiet in the other room. “Try and get some sleep. Who knows when we’ll be able to do that again.” I told her. Evy grabbed her nightgown before going behind a partition in the room for some privacy. I looked away and found some of Evy’s books on the desk in the corner. Flipping through them, I found a biography on Seti I and settled into a plush armchair to read it.

Time was slowly ticking by and Rick and Jonathan hadn’t returned yet, which didn’t bode well. Evy was in a dead sleep, completely unaware of the world around her. I’ll admit I was a little jealous. I was wired, twitchy even. I heard Daniels start to complain and shout that he was going to get something to drink. And of course, Jack, being Jack, shouted down the hall for him to get him some bourbon. Even during a crisis that could land him dead, my brother was willing to risk death for bourbon.

“Don’t worry about the door.” I heard Jack say before I heard the door click. Leaning against the door, trying to hear him better. I heard him start to mess around with his gun again, causing me to roll my eyes. This boy didn’t need any more excitement, yet here he was messing with his gun. I heard the wind howl and Jack gasp. I heard him cock his gun, and some voices in the wind but I couldn’t make out what they were saying.

I started banging on the door. “Jack don’t you dare go messing with that! Get back here and let me out!” It got really quiet for a second, and I naively thought we were going to be ok when I heard the wind howl again and start blowing in the other room. I heard this deep, guttural scream that sounded like it came straight from the depths of the underworld, and a thud as Jack got thrown to the floor. I was crying and banging against the door, trying my hardest to break the damn thing down.

The screaming continued but now it wasn’t just that of the monster, I heard Jack screaming too. I stood there, still banging the door, crying, pleading with whoever was listening upstairs to save Jack. I heard a weird gurgle noise and then the sound of something dropping to the floor. The wind picked up again and I saw sand start coming in through the keyhole. I grabbed my gun and shrank into a corner. From the sand, I saw the creature start to take shape, more man than the skeleton he was the last time I saw him. I knew that he had gotten to the Egyptologist, as well as my brother. Nope, stop yourself Peggy. Now is not the time to fall apart. I raised my gun, trying to distract him from Evy. “Hey ugly!” I shouted, trying to distract him.

He seemed amused by me. He smirked and stalked towards me. I was already in a corner so all I could do was watch as he approached me. He brought his hand up to my head and taped my temple. My eyes rolled back into my head and I crumpled to the floor, darkness taking me.

I came to in a beautiful golden room, bathed in sunlight. Trying my best to shield my eyes from the extremely bright sun, I made to sit up. I looked around and found myself in a temple wearing a gorgeous dress, like an Egyptian queen of old. I walked over to the balcony and saw the Nile river below with boats floating in its breathtaking blue waters. But these weren’t the modern boats that I used to seeing on the river. Movement to my right caused me to turn. I saw a woman with the head of a lioness. “Sekhmet.” I whispered, recognizing the Egyptian warrior goddess.

“Chosen One, I have waited a long time for you,” She said. “It is an honor to meet you.” At this she gave a slight bow.

“What do you mean, chosen one?” I asked, confused and if I’m being perfectly honest, a little terrified.

“It was said since the time that Imhotep was cursed that he was destined to rise again. The Pharaohs, fueled by their desire to prevent this, tasked the Medjai with guarding the resting place of Imhotep, a task that has proven futile, as you can now see. To ensure that the Medjai would not be completely decimated, as Imhotep vowed to exact his revenge on them for stopping the ritual and cursing him with the Hom Dai, the Medjai made a pact with me to bless them with a warrior that would be able to protect them from the wrath of Imhotep. That protector is you.” She explained. I was staring at her, wide-eyed at this point, in disbelief.

“How am I supposed to protect them? I’m just one person, I was only taught how to use a gun. How can I be much help?” The questions just flew out of my mouth, coming out all garbled and meshed together. She smiled at me. I’m sure she thought it was reassuring but to me, it reminded me of a predator smiling at its prey right before it goes in for the kill.

“You are my vessel in the mortal realm. I will guide you and give you the strength you need to fulfill your purpose. You won’t need to protect the whole of the Medjai. Their chieftain will be traveling with you. Keep him safe. He holds his people in his heart. Should anything happen to him, the twelve tribes will fall to ruin and legend.”

“So, no pressure, right?” I asked her sarcastically. She just smiled again before tapping my temple, much like Imhotep had done. I collapsed to the ground, once again surrounded by darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don’t hate me for killing off Jack. I spent a lot of time thinking of a way to maybe avoid it but in order to preserve the original story and where I wanted to take my character, I needed to sacrifice him. That doesn’t mean it felt good though. Thank you to everyone who has read, commented and sent kudos on this story so far.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I still don't own anything.

I came to as someone was gently shaking my shoulder. I slowly opened my eyes to see Evy, Jon and Rick staring down at me. “What happened?”

They all looked at each other, the looks on their faces giving me reason to worry. I got up and walked out of Evy’s room. In front of the door, in the sitting room, was a body that had been sucked dry, like Bernard’s. I couldn’t stop the broken scream that escaped from my mouth as the events that led to me passing out came back to me. Jack screaming in pain, the sound of his body being thrown across the room, the creature coming through the locked door as a pile of sand. I collapsed to the floor next to my twin’s body. “No Jack! Wake up! You got to wake up! You can’t be gone! Please don’t leave me. Don’t leave me.” I screamed and pleaded with him to get up, crying as if my tears could rehydrate him and he’d pop up, good as new. I was hyperventilating at this point, barely able to get a breath in.

I heard someone walk in and they gasped at the sight. I looked up. It was Daniels. Through my blurred vision all I saw was red and felt an anger like I had never experienced before. It was almost like somebody else was in control of my body as I crossed to the door, brought my fist back and nailed him in the eye. He fell backwards, stunned silent. “This is your fault!” I screamed at him, hysterically. “If you hadn’t left him, he wouldn’t be dead now! All you cared about was getting your damn drink and now Jack is dead!” I hit him again, this time in the stomach. He didn’t make any movement to stop me. I kept hitting him anywhere I could reach when I felt someone pull me off of him. Rick was holding me back, leading me out of the room.

“We need to get to the museum. I think I might know a way to defeat this creature.” Evy said, throwing a robe over her nightgown. Jonathan quickly left the room; I’m assuming to bring the car around. I wasn’t thinking clearly. I was aware of Daniels getting off the floor and after giving me a weary look, walking out the door to follow Jon. Evy followed him with Rick leading me out. I spared one last glance at my brother before turning and walking away, tears falling with each step I took. How did it come to this? He wasn’t supposed to die like this. He wasn’t supposed to scream for mercy while the life was literally being sucked out of him.

I was only vaguely aware of Rick placing me in the back seat of Jonathan’s car and us heading back to the museum. Jonathan brought the car to a stop and got out, offering me a hand so I didn’t fall trying to get out of the car. We were met at the entrance by Dr. Bey and Ardeth. He took one look at the current state I was in and immediately knew what had happened. He approached me and without much thought, I walked into his embrace, taking him and everyone else by surprise. He recovered quickly and put his arms around me, holding me as I fell apart, again. I was crying to the point of hyperventilating, completely aware of the fact that this man had seen me fall apart more times than I would have liked.

I could feel eyes on me and attempted to get myself under control before stepping out of his embrace and turning to face the others. Evy offered me a small smile, like she knew something I didn’t. Rick and Jonathan were just trying to look anywhere but at Ardeth and me, and Daniels, well he was staring daggers at me. Ardeth turned me towards the stairs as Evy started to explain her breakthrough. “Well, according to legend, the black book the Americans found at Hamunaptra is supposed to bring people back from the dead. Until now, it was a notion I was unwilling to believe.” Evy said.

“Believe it, sister. That’s what brought our buddy back to life.” Rick added.

“Yes. I’m thinking that if the black book can bring dead people to life…”

“Then maybe the gold book can kill him.” Rick finished.

“That’s the myth. Now, we just have to find out where the gold book is hidden.” Evy said as we reached the top of the stairs. Ardeth was leading me down the hallway when we all turned around, hearing a faint chanting coming from outside.

“Imhotep. Imhotep. Imhotep.” A mob outside was descending upon the museum.

“And last but not least, my favorite plague, boils and sores.” Jonathan said.

“Of all the plagues why is the one that is probably the most disgusting your favorite?” I asked, terrified by the view outside. There in the center of the mass was Imhotep. He looked up at us and when he caught sight of me, he smirked. I made to lunge, completely forgetting I was on the second floor, when Ardeth held me back.

“They have become his slaves. So, it has begun, the beginning of the end.” Ardeth explained. I shivered at the thought. This certainly wasn’t how I expected the world to end.

“Not quite yet it hasn’t. Come on.” Evy grabbed my hand and pulled me along with her to the stone tablet that was against one of the walls in the hallway. “Help me translate this. The faster we figure it out, the sooner we can get out of here.” With that I started reading the right side of the tablet, Dr. Bey was translating the bottom and Evy was working on the left side. It felt good to focus on something else, even for the briefest of moments. “According to Bembridge scholars, the golden book of Amun Ra is at Hamunaptra inside the statue of Anubis.” Evy told us.

“That’s where we found the black book.” Daniels said, panicked.

“Well then they must have mixed them up.” I concluded.

“Yes, mixed up where they were buried.” Evy added.

“So, if the book of the dead was inside Anubis then the golden book of the living must be…” I started, tracing my finger along a line of translation.

“Come on, Evy, Peggy faster.” Jonathan urged us.

“Patience is a virtue.” Evy said in a sing-song voice. At this, the doors to the museum burst open and Imhotep’s goons started rushing in.

“Not right now it isn’t,” Rick quipped.

Jonathan started backing up towards the back stairs. “I’m gonna go bring the car around,” he said before taking off.

“I’ve got it! The golden book of Amun Ra is at Hamunaptra inside the statue of Horace! Take that Bembridge scholars!” Evy exclaimed, feeling very proud of herself. I gave her a quick hug before urging her towards the stairs that Jonathan had gone down.

“Well done Evy but we need to go!” I yelled before we all ran downstairs. We made it outside, and Jonathan was there waiting for us. We all piled into his car, which was an amazing feat in and of itself because there was too many of us and so space was cramped. Somehow, I ended up right next to Ardeth in the back seat, practically in his lap. We raced through the streets of Cairo, attempting to put as much distance between us and Imhotep’s minions as possible. I was in a daze, distracted by all the events that had occurred over the course of the last few hours, when I was snapped back to reality by Jonathan slamming on the breaks, causing me to fly forward. The only thing that stopped me from flying over the seat and into Evy’s lap was Ardeth’s quick reflexes that caught me and pulled me back into the seat.

Looking around, I saw we were blocked in both directions from the mob. “What are we going to do now?” I asked. No one seemed to have any ideas, so Rick took matters into his own hands, or rather feet. With a quick warning to hold on, he slammed his foot down over Jonathan’s on the gas and plowed through the oncoming crowd. I winced upon initial impact, but my apologetic feeling left as quickly as it came when they started piling the car, attacking us. One of them was able to reach up from behind where Daniels was and grab my ponytail yanking me back.

“Son of a bitch!” I screamed as I wrestled my hair out of the man’s sore covered hand before turning around and landing a right hook on his temple bone. He fell back and off the car in pain and I turned to another one. I jumped at the sound of Daniels screaming for Rick from the back. I looked at him and saw two of the dummies grab him and hoist him out the back of the car, dragging him to the street. I sat there, listening to Daniels shoot the approaching army until all that was coming out was clicks as both guns were empty.

And then just like before, in the room with Evy, I heard the most horrible scream a person can make. I closed my eyes and lowered my head to between my knees, my hands over my ears as I tried, unsuccessfully, to block out his cries and pleas for mercy. In the course of a day, I had lost everyone that I was close to. Berny, Jack, how was I going to go back to America and explain to our moms that I couldn’t save them, that an ancient curse none of us could possibly fathom was true, and Jack and Bernard were victims of greed. Because that’s what started this. The promises of riches by that weasel Beni.

Once again, I was jolted out of my inner musings by being jarred back into reality. Poor Jonathan, with all that was going on, he drove us into a water trough and busted the front of his car. Ardeth helped me out of the car as the others ran out to the front of this building, where we got cornered pretty quickly. They stopped chanting and parted down the center, making a pathway for the creature to walk down, Beni trailing behind him. I growled at him and went to attack but Ardeth held me back.

“The creature, he’s fully regenerated,” Dr. Bey said. Imhotep then addressed Evy, telling her to come with him and he’d make her his for eternity. Beni was translating for those in our group who weren’t fluent in Ancient Egyptian. But he translated it wrong. And Evy, ever the perfectionist, called him on it.

“He said for all eternity, idiot.” Beni just looked at her, a dumbfounded look on his face. Imhotep then spoke again.

“’Come with me and I will spare your friends.’” Beni translated again. Evy looked at all of us, weighing her options.

“Don’t you dare Evy! Don’t give him what he wants.” I told her from my spot behind Ardeth.

“ _Chosen of Sekhmet, we meet again. Move aside or suffer greatly._ ” Ardeth pulled me further behind him before I could do anything to further put myself in danger.

“Have you got any bright ideas?” Evy asked Rick.

“I’m thinking, I’m thinking.” Rick said anxiously.

“Well, you better think of something quick because if he turns me into a mummy, you’re the first person I’m coming after.” She informed him before walking over to Imhotep.

“No! No!” Rick yelled, pulling his gun out of the holder attached to his side. I pulled my dagger out as well, prepping to launch it into Imhotep. Jonathan appeared at my side, pulling my arm down as Ardeth held onto Rick.

“He still has to take me to Hamunaptra to perform the ritual,” she told him, eyes begging Rick to not do anything stupid.

“She’s right. Live today, fight tomorrow.” Ardeth said, while struggling to lower Rick’s arm. After a very intense staring contest between Rick, Evy, Ardeth, and Imhotep, Rick finally lowered his gun.

“I’ll be seeing you again.” Rick threatened Imhotep, pointing his torch at him. Imhotep turned, with a smirk on his face. Beni walked up to me and Jonathan and started rifling through Jonathan’s pockets, finally coming up with the key.

“Hey that’s mine.” Jonathan whined.

“Thank you.” Beni said with a shit-eating grin. The events of the night had finally caught up with me and I was just angry now. I took one look at that evil pig’s face and punched him right in the jaw. He fell to the ground in a daze.

“That’s for Jack, Berny and Daniels.” I said to him. He just turned and crawled through the crowd as Imhotep gave the order to kill us. The mob started closing in on us as Evy was screaming at him to stop. We were trapped. Well at least I wouldn’t be living for that much longer without Jack. I was certain hope was lost, until out of the corner of my eye I saw Rick pulling up the cover of a manhole. “You can’t be serious?” I asked him as a wave of sewer smell wafted up into my nose, causing me to gag.

He just nodded as he moved Jonathan to the opening, forcing him down. “What about my sister?” Jonathan asked before dropping into the hole.

“We’ll get her back. You’re next,” Rick said to Ardeth. He looked like he was getting ready to argue, seeing Dr. Bey take his sword out, trying to keep the mob back. Rick grabbed his arm and all but threw him into the sewer. He made to grab me, but I beat him to it and fell into the hole, bracing myself for impact on the floor. That never came, as I fell into Ardeth’s waiting arms. I blushed, thankful that it was just dark enough in the tunnel that he couldn’t see it. He could however feel my heartrate pick up and he looked at me, concerned.

“Thank you. I’m ok.” I told him. By this point, Rick had joined us.

“Let’s go.” Rick said, leading the way through the labyrinth of sewer passages. We started following him, Ardeth pulling me along beside him so I wouldn’t get lost.

“ ** _I’m sorry about Dr. Bey_**.” I whisper to him.

“ ** _He died fulfilling his duty to our people. That is what is desired by all Medjai_**.” He replied. “ ** _And I’m sorry about your brother. And your friends_**.”

“ ** _Thank you. I still haven’t really processed it. I’m going to be going home alone. How do I begin to explain this to my parents? They weren’t happy about this expedition._** ” I confessed.

“ ** _We were going to meet to talk about that dream you had, but never got the chance. Shall we discuss it now?_** ” he asked. I nodded, honestly anything to distract me from the conga line of guilt that was playing on a continuous loop in my head was a good thing.

“ ** _I had this dream that last night at Hamunaptra, before Evy read from the book. I was in the city, but it must have been some three thousand years ago, because everything was built up, not in the ruins that are there today. I was in the preparation room, surrounded by men with jackal masks, men with Medjai markings, and men painted gold. The men that were painted gold were being mummified alive by those with the jackal masks while the Medjai were watching. Then, the creature was brought in and I watched as they cut out his tongue, wrapped him in gauze and placed him, and the scarabs, into the sarcophagus before locking him up tight. I was woken up after that by Evy awakening the creature._** ” I finished, looking at him out of the corner of my eye.

“ ** _How did you know we were called Medjai?_** ” he asked.

“ ** _One of the men with the jackal masks called for one of them to come help. I figured that you were related to them, the tattoos on your forehead are the same._** ” I paused, debating if I should tell him about my vision. “ ** _There’s something else. When we saw him again in Evy’s quarters, after he… after… after he killed Jack, he approached me and touched my temple. I immediately passed out and when I came to, I was in this old palace, in ancient times. Before me was this woman in a red dress with the head of a lioness. She called herself Sekhmet. She told me that I was her chosen vessel, that the Medjai who cursed Imhotep made a pact with Sekhmet for a protector as Imhotep swore to wipe out the line of Medjai. She said that I was destined to protect the Medjai from the creature. She said that I was supposed to protect you._** ” This caused him to turn quickly to face me. “ ** _She said that if anything were to happen to you, your people would fall, becoming nothing more than legend, just as the city you protect_**.” I finished, quietly, hoping he didn’t hear that part. I turned to look at him, and I saw him deep in thought. “ ** _I won’t allow this to happen. Maybe this is why I’ve felt drawn to you since we met, maybe not. But I’ve lost too many people, I’m not going to lose you too._** ” I took a step towards him, and throwing caution to the wind, pulled him towards me, kissing him. He stood still, not reciprocating and I was nervous I read too much into our actions, that he didn’t feel the same as me. I stepped away, tears forming in my eyes. Good job Peggy.

We had reached the end of the tunnel at this point and Rick climbed up the ladder built into the side of the wall. He reached the top and removed the cover, heading back into the world above, Jonathan shortly following him. I made to grab the ladder after Jonathan got to the top, when Ardeth grabbed my arm, turning me around to face him. I looked up at him, confused by his actions. He pulled me to him and brought his lips down to mine, capturing me in a kiss that honestly, could have stopped time.

Way to soon, he pulled back, resting his forehead against mine. “Wow,” I whispered, a small smile on my lips. He just nodded, pulling back and looking at me.

We jumped apart when we heard Rick shout above us, “Are you coming or not?”

“Yeah, we’ll be right up!” I yelled back, before turning around and climbing up the ladder. Taking in my surroundings, I noticed we were back in front of the museum. I moved aside and Ardeth came up after me, both of us had a blush present on our cheeks.

“What’s got you two in such a state?” Jonathan asked. Neither one of us made to answer, content to look anywhere but at the two other men in the group or at each other.

“Nothing for you to worry about. We need to find a car and get going,” I said, looking around for a car.

“And how do you suppose we do that? Our ride is halfway across town with God knows how much damage from the mob.” Jonathan asked.

“We don’t need that car, just a car.” I said, evasively.

“What do you mean? Of course we need that car. How else are we going to get to the airfield?” Jonathan asked.

“We’re going to borrow someone’s car. Are we not on a bit of a time crunch? Do we not need to get there as quickly as possible?”

“You know how to hotwire a car?” Rick asked, shocked.

“I’m from a small rural town in the middle of Texas, there wasn’t much else to do. Me and my five older brothers would hotwire our dad’s farm truck and go ride around the fields every now and then.” My face fell at the mention of my brothers. I only had four older brothers now. They could all see the look on my face and not knowing how to help, just decided that the best thing they could do was not making eye contact. “Anyway, this car is as good as any.” I saw before getting in the driver’s seat and using a knife I kept in my boot, pried open the dashboard belong the steering wheel, revealing the wires that started up the car. Cutting them, I twisted them together and sighed in relief when the car roared to life. “Oh thank God! I’ve only ever watched my brothers do that.”

“Wait, you weren’t sure it would work? What would you have done if it hadn’t?” Jonathan asked.

“Tried again.” I said with a shrug, before moving to the back. “One of you is going to need to drive because I’m too tired to.” With that being said, Jonathan got in the driver’s seat, Rick sat next to him in the passenger’s seat and Ardeth joined me in the back. Jonathan pulled out of the parking lot and it wasn’t long before I was lulled to sleep by the gentle movements of the car.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I went back and was rereading this story and I found some mistakes that I made so I needed to fix that and so I needed to edit the first chapter. Because of this, I’m uploading this chapter a day early. I’m not too sure how I feel about it but I hope you enjoyed it. Thank you to everyone who has bookmarked, left kudos, and reviewed this story. They brighten my day and give me motivation to get these chapters done sooner.


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